


The Humanity of Mankind

by silverlysilence



Series: A Hint of Smallville in Gotham [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Smallville
Genre: Acts of Kindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-07 21:45:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverlysilence/pseuds/silverlysilence
Summary: Clark always tries to see the best in humanity, but sometimes, it's difficult.





	1. Mankind

Gotham’s night sky was as depressing as it was dreary; clouds darker with the promise of rain hung low over the cityscape. Sirens wailed above the usual uproar of the city’s nightlife, be it in the form of the high-class parties’ music descending from above or the gang conflict rising up from below. Lights flickered on and off on the various floors of the skyscrapers and apartments signaling the beginning or ending of one’s day depending on their occupations. The dazzling display was nothing compared to the glittering flame glistening in the distance of the bay separating Gotham and Metropolis.  

Only few people bothered to walk to the end of the pier in hopes of a better glimpse of the blaze and even then, they didn’t stay long with the winds spraying cold salty water in their faces. In spite of the gawkers slowly dwindling down, one person stayed hunched over the pier railing, staring intensely at the flame.   

Ratty cloths soaked through with seawater smelled of smoke with a faint hint of oil lingering underneath had regular people giving him space. To many he looked to be another of Gotham’s homeless with dark hair plastered to ashen skin. But to one brave soul who took the spot at the man’s elbow, ethereal eyes staring unblinkingly at the blaze were on clear display showing there was more to him than meets the eye.

Unlike the transient, the woman by his side was completely opposite. Her clothing while discreet were finely tailored to her lush womanly curves yet the long sleeves of the business suit's jacket did a good job in hiding muscular arms. On the other hand, her pencil skirt did nothing to hide her tone shapely legs made to look even longer in Jimmy Choo high heels. Raven locks were pulled back and done up in a tight elegant bun which even the winds didn't dare to defy. 

"It's beautiful." 

"It's destructive." 

"It's destructively beautiful." 

"Or beautifully destructive, depending how you look at it." 

The woman, leaning just a little bit more of her weight on the railing, let out a bitter laugh that the winds swept away. "No matter how one looks at it, the damage wrought tonight will have far reaching consequences. The oil which isn't being burned will pollute the waters, devastating the marine ecosystem and affecting the coastal life as well." 

The man hummed and nodded his head in agreement. "True, there's no doubt in my mind there will be repercussions for tonight's disaster. On the ecosystem and on the people here this city." 

"Mankind brought it on themselves, they're just little boys born with no natural inclination to share." 

"Young," the woman looked over at her companion, tilting to the side in a curious manner. 

"Young?" 

"You said it so yourself, they're little boys. Humanity is still young, still learning values like sharing but tonight's disaster was an accident. Too many working parts in one area, old equipment that should have been replaced years ago, pipes out of alignment and one little spark causes the whole thing to go up." 

The woman raised an eyebrow, the single gesture speaking volumes, silently asking if the young man before her – who had clearly seen hard times – really believed what he was saying. "Man destroys themselves, they preach about humanity and to turn away from sin but those are just words. I thought I walked away from this; from a century of horrors…but I was wrong. Men continue to create a world where standing together is impossible.” 

Silent contemplation engulfed the two for some time after. Both watching the flames coming from the burning oil rig licking the horizon as plumes of smoke rose even higher. Each knowing what the memorizing sight was destroying with each passing second. Finally, the young man pushed himself up and began walking away.  

"Where are you going?" the woman inquired, showing a bit of concern for the first time.  

The dark-haired transient turned and gave her a small, strained smile. "To help. Mankind may destroy themselves, they may be young, and I wouldn't put my trust in them but people? I'll help them."  

A gesture behind him had blue eyes drifting towards the bay where fleets of boats with their red and blue stern lights were heading away from the docks. The vessels ranged from top of the line yachts to old fishing dinghies that had seen better days, but what they all had in common was their heading: towards the burning oil rig. To provide assistance where they could.

They weren't the only ones. 

The previous empty pier was starting to fill up despite the early hour. Rescue workers in bright colored uniforms were setting up tents with the help of the homeless who cautiously creeped out of the alleys to help their fellow man. Trucks filled with medical supplies were being guided through the mess of people by gun caring folks and they definitely weren't the police. The actual police were clearing the way for the Life Guards docking with the first wave of survivors. 

"Miss?" 

"Hm, yes?" The woman turned towards the officer, looking over his shoulder to see the young transient man she'd been talking to had disappeared in the crowd. 

"Are you here to help? If not, I'll need you to leave the area," glancing back at the officer, she gave the man a warm smile. "Miss-?" 

"Prince. Diana Prince, and yes, yes I'm here to help." 


	2. Humanity

"What _does_ humanity have to offer?" Clark grumbled to himself, not even bothering to move from where he was halfway sprawled across the countertop when someone attempted to take the seat next to him. His head stayed firmly planted on crossed arms as green eyes watched the various news stations on the numerous TVs located around the _Gothamite’s Coffestream Café_. 

"It is depressing." 

"Mr. Pennyworth," the teenager greeted, shifting over just enough to allow the gentleman to sit down but otherwise remained sprawled across the counter.  

Seeing the well-dressed man seated at one of the rickety bar stool that made up the breakfast bar was rather strange. Mr. Pennyworth appeared so out of place sitting there that the young teenager had resolved to always get one of the actual tables in the back during their get togethers. Clark hadn't tried for one of the overly crowded tables today because, as far as he knew, he and Mr. Pennyworth weren’t supposed to meet up. 

"I'll admit that seeing the good in humanity at times like this is hard," the older man nodded to the TV airing the local news channel with Summer Gleeson talking about how GothCorp had bribed the safety inspectors to look the other way when they'd cut corners on updating the oil rig’s fire suppressant system. According to the reporter, there never had been any updates to the old system and the money had been pocketed by the company’s CEO.

When the story first broke in the wee hours of the morning, Clark had felt affronted and enraged which soon turned to betrayal. He had defended humanity against the harsh words of the beautiful woman who had felt different – otherworldly, but still of this planet unlike him – to his senses. Only for the truth to reveal the greed of humans' to be the cause of the explosion and not an accident as he'd first suspected.

Clark could understand a mistake. He had made many of them in his short lifespan when it came to his abilities and trying to do the right thing. Accidents happened, it was human –and Kryptonian – to make mistakes and an accident caused by negligence meant people were thoughtless at the worst. But the oil rig explosion? That was not an accident, that was greed and malicious and it was not something he could defend. 

"But it also brings out the good and extraordinary in people," Mr. Pennyworth continued, motioning to another TV where one of the men on the rig was speaking out about how an angel had saved him, holding up the collapsing crane to keep it from crushing him. However, when the upcoming reporter questioned the man on what happened to his savior, he admitted his angel was caught in the second explosion. "It’s truly remarkable what people can do when they're under life or death situations." 

"Yeah, remarkable," Clark grimaced, because despite being invulnerable, being thrown about by a couple explosions was far from fun. His clothes had been ripped to shreds and numerous holes scorched into the fabric to the point there had been no hope in salvaging the articles of clothing. Not to mention being engulfed by flames hurt, his joints were stiff from holding up the crane, and the memory of the heat on all sides brought back unpleasant memories. 

"You don't sound like yourself, what's the matter Clark?" the older man gently probed, concern clear in his eyes when he caught the gaze of the younger man.

Clark shrugged, using the excuse to catch the eye of one of their usually waitresses to look away. A wave to the frazzled carrottop had the woman giving him a short nod in acknowledgement before she was accosted by a rather rude older woman and her attention was drawn away. Just another example of humanities _caring_ nature. 

"Just thinking about something a woman said to me last night." 

"Oh, and what's that?" Mr. Pennyworth raised an eyebrow when a of coffee was placed in front of Clark instead of the usually cup and kettle of tea that was placed before him only seconds later by the carrottop’s twin brother.

"That humanity destroys itself," the teenager sighed after taking a sip of his pick-me-up coffee.

Green eyes flickering to another screen where Summer Gleeson’s earlier report was being aired on a global news station only this wasn’t such a touching story as a mysterious angel saving an oil rig worker. No, this story was about the medical supplies stolen from last night’s relief efforts. The lack of supplies causing three near fatalities and one man was pronounced DOA by the time more supplies arrived.

"Despite everything, how can you trust humanity when they take advantage of what should have been an act of compassion?" 

“I don’t,” Mr. Pennyworth’s expression didn’t waver or change as he poured his tea but Clark knew the other man was far from composed as his demeanor presented. “To trust humanity without exception no matter who they are is unwise but to not trust anyone at all would be an appalling way to live. Instead, I put my trust in individuals. Not the general public because they will let you down, but find people to represent humanity for you and put your trust in them.”

Clark looked at the TV with the story on the oil rig worker’s angel. “So, find someone to be my humanity?”

“No, you can’t find someone one to _be_ your humanity,” the gentleman shook his head and set his teacup down to give the dark-haired teenager his full attention. “Everyone has their flaws and relying on just one person will end the same as trusting humanity as a whole: in disaster.”

A thoughtful look crossed Clark’s young face making him look even older, as if he was carrying the weight of the whole world on his shoulder. “I think I understand what you’re saying. Find the people you want humanity to be and surround yourself with them. Let them remind you what it is to be human and be the reason to get up in the morning when the world doesn’t seem worth saving because they will be worth saving.”

“I couldn’t have put it better myself,” Mr. Pennyworth nodded in approval, once more picking up his tea. From there their discussion digressed into more light-hearted topics and as the crowd of the café started to thinned out, they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

However, as Mr. Pennyworth climbed into his Panther De Ville, Clark stopped him. “Mr. Pennyworth, thanks for being a part of humanity.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, I don't get even one review despite getting this out before Wonder Woman? I thought I captured her personality perfectly even before the release of the movie. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the first multi-chapter short story to this series. I have another, bigger multi-chapter for this series, but it's didn't actual go anywhere.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've had a writer's block for my other story and have been trying to force myself to write to get over it. Hasn't really worked, but this is what came out of forcing words together. Hope you like...still have no idea where this collection is going.


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